Intubated patients develop a pooling of secretions inside the bronchi of the lungs and in the trachea, and require frequent or constant suctioning to remove these secretions. Current processes utilize an unguided, directionless suction catheter which is inserted into an endotracheal tube (ETT) or tracheostomy tube (also known as a “trach”) and is simply dropped into the lungs and pulled back slowly while suctioning. Because it is directionless, this existing device is less effective and has a tendency to leave fluid behind in one lung field or both.
Complicating the matter, the left bronchus connects to the trachea at a sharp angle (at about a 40 degree angle); this results in most suction catheters being dropped into the right bronchus (which connects to the trachea at only about a 15 degree angle). This leaves the left bronchus frequently un-suctioned, and if it remains in such a state, secretions can build up and may cause serious complications such as pneumonia or collapse of all or part of a lung field (atelectasis), and these may also propagate to a worsening of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and/or septic pneumonia. These complications can require expensive and invasive actions, and prolonged intubation time and costs associated with extended stays in intensive care units of medical facilities such as hospitals.
Examples of existing technology for endotracheal suctioning devices may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,782, which discloses a suction catheter that may be adapted for removing fluid from a patient from application of negative pressure to a lumen of a tubular portion. Another example may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,012, which discloses a catheter for performing bronchoalveolar lavage comprising a sampling catheter so sized and configured as to extend from a bronchiole in the lung of a patient through the upper respiratory system. The assembly also includes means for directing the distal end of the sampling catheter into a preselected lung of the patient. Neither of these patents teach a control mechanism or lever for accurately guiding the distal end of the sampling catheter.
Another example of existing attempts to reach both bronchi of the lungs is found in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0313347, which discloses a catheter that includes a distal end adapted to be introduced into the trachea and/or into the bronchi of a patient to suck up fluid secretions or other similar material. The distal end includes a viewing means that includes optical fibers suitable for transferring an image and a micro-camera or another visualization technology, and lighting means that includes other optical fibers suitable for guiding light. These enable the operator to identify the position of the distal end in the trachea and bronchial tree on a screen to ensure that the tube of the catheter is adjacent to or inside collections of fluid secretions. However, there is no mechanism for directional control of the device that allows for greater suctioning capability of the left bronchus.